Gezi Park set to reopen, Istanbul governor says

Turkey’s iconic Gezi Park will reopen "in the coming days", the Istanbul governor said on Thursday, almost a month after protests against the park's planned redevelopment sparked nationwide unrest.

The currently closed Gezi Park will be opened again to public use in a few days as municipality work continues at the site, which has become the heart of the antigovernment movement sweeping the nation, Istanbul Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said.

“The work will be completed within a few days, and the park will be open to public use,” Mutlu told reporters as he attended a public relations award ceremony.

The park has been closed since heavy police intervention forced protesters out of the site, abandoning their tents and locations where they had stayed day and night for nearly two weeks before the evacuation.